What will Hu Jianto and President Obama discuss during his visit? The dire case of Chen Guangcheng, whose life hangs in the balance, the millions of lives China's One-Child Policy is "preventing" -- or simply business?

Washington is welcoming Hu Jintao. We have to roll out a red carpet for the man and the regime that hold a trillion dollars in U.S. debt. And we've heard nary a word from the president about its human rights abuses.

Since Nixon's famous visit in 1972 ended the period of unrelenting mutual hostility, the complex U.S.-China relationship has always had elements of both partnership and rivalry -- but now rivalry may again eclipse its more positive cousin.

Many Chinese believe that China should be less deferential to the U.S. because they think the U.S. is in decline. But this view is mistaken and China is unlikely to equal American economic, military or soft power for decades to come. Nonetheless, overconfidence has led to more assertive Chinese behavior in the last two years that alienated the Obama administration -- and this is the backdrop for this week's Washington summit. Since both countries have more to gain from cooperation than conflict, we must hope that Hu's state visit goes well.